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The California Court of Appeal recently reversed trial court judgments sustaining demurrers in two class action cases involving false advertising claims. In both cases the plaintiff alleged that he was misled to believe that “White Baking Morsels” or “White Baking Chips” contain white chocolate.

The defendants demurred on the ground that no reasonable consumer would believe that “White Baking” chips or morsels contain real white chocolate. The trial court agreed and entered judgment for the defendants. In both cases, the California Court of Appeal disagreed, holding that the plaintiff stated viable claims, and reversed.…

Continue Reading California Court of Appeal Allows “White Baking” Chips Claims to Proceed

On July 29, Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California issued a decertification order in a long-running class action dispute concerning Cricket Wireless’s 4G advertising, ruling that plaintiff’s counsel made “too critical a mistake” in fashioning their class-wide damages model.  See Freitas v. Cricket Wireless, LLC, 2022 WL 3018061, at *6 (N.D. Cal. July 29, 2022).…

Continue Reading “Critical Mistake” In Damages Model Sinks California Class Action

Kellogg’s defeated yet another putative class action filed by prolific litigant Spencer Sheehan alleging that one of its Pop-Tarts products misleads consumers.  See Reinitz v. Kellogg Sales Co., 2022 WL 1813891 (C.D. Ill. June 2, 2022). 

Asserting state law consumer fraud theories, plaintiff argued that Kellogg’s Frosted Chocolate Fudge Pop-Tarts mislead consumers because they do not contain any fudge whatsoever.  According to plaintiff, true fudge contains butter and milk (i.e. “milkfat”), but Kellogg’s instead uses cheaper and lower quality “vegetable oils and whey” substitutes.  In support of these allegations, plaintiff pointed to a book by Molly Mills, a woman she described as “one of the today’s leading authorities on fudge.”  But plaintiff’s reliance on Mills’s book ultimately proved fatal to her claims.

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Continue Reading Fudge Without Milkfat Isn’t “Fudged”

An Illinois federal court recently ruled that a Kroger shopper’s proposed class action lawsuit over “SMOKED GOUDA” cheese could proceed, holding that plaintiff’s interpretation of the label to mean the cheese was smoked over hardwood was not “inherently fanciful or unreasonable.”

The complaint, brought by Valerie Kinman under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“ICFA”), alleges that the front label of the “SMOKED GOUDA” product is misleading because it “does not disclose that all of the Product’s smoked flavor is from liquid smoke, prepared by pyrolysis of hardwood sawdust, instead of being smoked over hardwoods.”  In denying Kroger’s motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to plead reasonable consumer deception, the court reasoned that the word “smoked” has at least two meanings—(1) “cured over burning wood” or (2) “an adjective that describes a flavor”—and is therefore ambiguous.  The phrase “distinctive, smoky flavor” on the front of the package did not resolve that ambiguity, moreover, because that phase, too, is subject to multiple interpretations, including that the cheese has such a flavor resulting from the process of smoking over hardwood.…

Continue Reading Court Allows False Advertising Claims Over Kroger’s “Smoked Gouda” to Proceed

On May 24, Kellogg Sales Co. defeated a third putative class action alleging that Strawberry Pop-Tarts mislead consumers, having defeated two other putative class actions in March.  Represented by prolific plaintiffs’ firm, Sheehan & Associates, Stacy Chiappetta, Kelvin Brown, and Anita Harris each sued Kellogg after realizing that the filling in Strawberry Pop-Tarts contains not just strawberries, but also small amounts of dried pears, dried apples, and the food dye red 40.  But two federal judges in Illinois and a third in New York have now agreed with Kellogg that the packaging of Strawberry Pop-Tarts is not misleading for the simple reason that the pastries in fact contain strawberries.…

Continue Reading Kellogg Beats Pop-Tarts Class Actions

The Southern District of California recently declined to certify a class based on plaintiffs’ failure to offer class wide proof of deception and materiality.  In Gross et al. v. Vilore Foods Company, Inc., plaintiffs alleged that Kern fruit juice products were deceptively labeled as “100% Natural” or made with whole fruit when the drinks in fact contained artificial ingredients.  Plaintiffs brought claims under various California laws, including the UCL, CLRA, and FAL.  To certify a class, plaintiffs were required to offer common proof both that the challenged representations were deceptive or misleading to a reasonable consumer; and that the challenged representations were material, meaning a reasonable person would attach importance to the representations that Kern’s fruit juice is “100% natural” or made with whole fruit.  The court held that plaintiffs satisfied neither burden.

First, as to deception, the only evidence Plaintiffs cited was their expert’s report.  Plaintiffs’ expert purported to assess the importance consumers placed on certain product attributes, and how claims such as “artificially flavored” affected their willingness to pay for a product.  Plaintiffs’ expert concluded that consumers were willing to pay approximately 29% more for a Kern product that did not disclose its use of artificial flavors, and approximately 30% less for a product disclosing that it contained artificial flavors.  The court found this evidence insufficient because consumers’ willingness to pay more or less for a product said nothing about whether the labels at issue would lead consumers to believe that the products did not contain artificial flavors, or contained only natural flavors.  As a result, the court held that Plaintiffs’ expert’s opinion could not constitute common proof of deception.…

Continue Reading Consumer Survey Did Not Constitute Common Proof of Deception or Materiality

A consumer purchases a product and later finds out that the product was contaminated with a toxic substance.  Was the consumer injured?  Without knowing more, the answer is “no”—at least for the purposes of establishing standing in the Third Circuit.  In Koronthaly v. L’Oreal USA, Inc., 374 F. App’x 257, 259 (3d Cir. 2010), the court held that mere exposure to lead in lipstick was not sufficient to support standing.  Years later, in In re Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Prods. Mktg., Sales Practice & Liability Litigation, 903 F.3d 278, 289, 290 n. 15 (3d Cir. 2018), the court held that mere exposure to a carcinogen in talcum powder is likewise not enough to establish standing.

Following this trend, District Judge Chesler in the District of New Jersey recently dismissed a case where plaintiffs alleged they purchased baby food contaminated with heavy metals.  See Kimca v. Sprout Foods, Inc. d/b/a Sprout Organic Foods, 2022 WL 1213488 (D.N.J. Apr. 25, 2022). …

Continue Reading Were You Exposed to Toxic Substances in Consumer Products?  You May Lack Standing to Sue in the Third Circuit.

A recent lawsuit alleges that Bumble Bee Foods, one of the nation’s largest producers of canned tuna, does not use a “fair and safe supply chain,” as the company’s marketing claims.

The suit is the latest in a surge of cases filed under D.C.’s unique consumer-protection statute. The plaintiff, a D.C.-based nonprofit focused on labor rights, alleges that Bumble Bee’s primary tuna supplier (and now parent company) relies on fishing methods that are prone to labor abuses.

Separate from the merits, the suit raises thorny issues about when claims under D.C.’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”) can be removed to federal court.…

Continue Reading Plaintiffs Try to Hook Bumble Bee Tuna with Deceptive Marketing Claim

Last week, Dryers defeated two putative class actions filed by the same law firm, Spencer Sheehan, alleging that representations on the packaging of Häagen-Dazs chocolate-dipped ice cream bars misled consumers about the product’s chocolate coating.  In both cases, plaintiffs alleged that the representation that the ice cream is dipped in “rich milk chocolate” is false, since the addition of vegetable and coconut oil to the chocolate coating “fundamentally changes the nature of the bar’s coating.”  According to plaintiffs, chocolate is “a food prepared from ground roasted cacao beans,” that are ground to produce cocoa mass or chocolate liquor and then combined with dairy ingredients, sweetener, and flavorings—not vegetable oil.  Plaintiffs also pointed to FDA regulations defining chocolate and related labeling requirements to argue that food companies may not market their products as chocolate when they are mixed with non-cacao plant oils. 

Dryers filed motions to dismiss both cases, and the Southern District of New York and the Southern District of Illinois granted the motions, but on different grounds.  While S.D.N.Y. held that no reasonable consumer would be misled by the product packaging, S.D. Ill. concluded that the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act preempted the state claims at issue.  Neither court found the plaintiffs’ appeals to FDA regulations availing. …

Continue Reading Dryers Wins Back-to-Back Dismissals in Consumer Deception Lawsuits

We previously reported on a surge of mislabeling suits filed in District of Columbia Superior Court, following lower court decisions that purported to grant “tester” plaintiffs—individuals and organizations that purchase products simply to test whether the representations about a product are true—a right to sue on behalf of the general public under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”).  A year later, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has endorsed an even more expansive interpretation of the CPPA, permitting a public interest organization to bring such actions even if the organization fails to satisfy Article III’s standing requirements.  We expect even more lawsuits to be filed in the wake of this decision.…

Continue Reading A Closer Look: D.C. Court of Appeals Endorses Broad Organizational Standing to Bring Consumer Protection Lawsuits